Red Braids
by CJ Lauren
Summary: "Lisbon watched in silence as Jane expertly twisted the child's curly hair into a beautiful French braid, in a matter of minutes. She was so focused on his hands that she almost missed the single tear making its way down his cheek. Almost, but not quite." - One-shot, Jane meets a little girl at a crime scene.


"Well, hello there," Jane said in a falsely bright voice.

"What?" Lisbon turned around, confused. It all made sense when she saw Jane open the closet door. He had seen the young girl through the slits in the door, hiding amongst the clothes.

The girl moved backwards as the door opened, but she couldn't hide completely. Her auburn curls were everywhere, falling out of her messy braid. She was wearing jeans and a plain, pink t-shirt, and clutching a stuffed toy rabbit.

"My name is Patrick," Jane told her, keeping his voice calm and friendly. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? What's your name?"

"Amanda," the girl whispered.

"Amanda, that's a nice name. How old are you, Amanda?"

"Six," she said shyly.

"How long have you been in here, Amanda? Do you remember?"

The girl started to cry. "Mommy's hurt. My daddy hurt her. Daddy's a police officer. You can't call them because then he'll be really angry. The police won't help though. They'll be on his side."

Jane felt the bile rise in his throat. "Did you see, when your daddy hurt your mommy?"

"Uh huh," Amanda whispered, nodding.

"Okay. We might need to talk to you about it a little bit more, but right now, do you want to come out and get something to eat?" Jane knew that the mother had been dead for about twelve hours; he figured the girl must be hungry, but she shook her head.

"No? Why not?" He asked gently.

Amanda clutched her rabbit even more tightly. "I have to keep Sammy safe," she murmured.

"Okay," Jane agreed. "Nobody out here will hurt Sammy, or you."

"Isn't my daddy out there?" The fear in the girl's voice broke Jane's heart.

"No, he isn't. We're not sure where he is, but you're safe if you're with us," he assured her.

"I don't want to see my mommy like that," Amanda confessed. She was clearly still terrified, and Jane couldn't blame her.

"I'll cover your eyes, and make sure you don't see," Jane promised.

"Will you swear to keep me safe?" The girl looked at Jane so seriously that under different circumstances, he might have laughed.

"Amanda, I know you want to trust me, but you're scared. Is there something I can do for you to help make you less scared?" Jane wanted to try and give her some control back, to make her feel safer.

"Who else is outside?" Amanda wanted to know.

Jane didn't want to move aside so that she could see, because then her mother's body would be in full view, so he motioned for Lisbon, Cho and Rigsby to come over to the closet. Amanda instinctively covered herself in the clothes hanging from above.

"Amanda, it's okay. It's okay. These are my friends. That's Teresa, and Wayne, and Kimball."

"They're police!" Amanda exclaimed, and started crying again.

"Shhh it's okay, they're my friends. They won't hurt you. But if it helps at all, I'm not a police officer," Jane told her.

"You're not?"

"Nope," he said, offering her a smile.

"What are you, then?"

"I'm a lot of things," he told her jokingly. "I help catch bad guys. People like your dad, who hurt other people."

"I don't want to come out with all the police people here," Amanda whispered.

"How about if I take you to your room? It's the room beside this one, right?" Jane suggested.

"I don't know…" Amanda was very reluctant.

"I'll carry you over there, okay? You and Sammy. I'll make sure you're safe."

"Okay," Amanda agreed. She still looked scared.

Patrick smiled. "That's good. Come here," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Close your eyes, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah." Amanda obediently squeezed her eyes shut.

"Good girl. I'm going to pick you up now, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered bravely.

Jane picked her up and quickly walked next door. Amanda's door was already open slightly; he just pushed it a bit with his foot and entered. He sat Amanda down on her bed, and she opened her eyes.

"Thank you," she said, offering him a small smile.

"You're very welcome. Would you like something to eat or drink?" He repeated his earlier offer.

"Yes please," Amanda said shyly. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I thought you might be. I'm going to call my friend Teresa and ask her to go downstairs to get some food, and then I'm going to ask her to bring it back up here. I'll stay with you the whole time. Is that okay?"

"Yes. Thank you," Amanda said, relieved that she wouldn't be left alone.

"Teresa?" Jane called, deliberately using her first name to avoid confusing Amanda.

She popped her head in the door. "What's up?"

"Can you go downstairs to get Amanda something to eat and drink? She hasn't had anything the entire time she was in the closet," Jane said, keeping his tone pleasant as if he were talking directly to Amanda.

"Sure," Lisbon smiled. "Amanda, is there anything specific you would like me to get?"

Amanda looked alarmed at being addressed outright, and only spoke after Jane gave her a reassuring smile. "Um. There is pizza from supper last night in the fridge. I like it cold. And some water to drink, please," she said hesitantly.

"Sure thing. I'll be right back," Lisbon said, giving her another smile.

True to her word, she returned within minutes with exactly what Amanda had requested. Amanda gratefully took it and scarfed it down. Lisbon stayed in the room while the girl ate, hoping that she would gradually earn Amanda's trust.

When Amanda finished, she looked up at Jane. "Patrick, my mommy isn't going to get better, is she? She's dead."

"That's right," he told her gently.

Amanda's hands went up to her head, and she gently fingered her messed-up braid. "My braid is falling out," she commented sadly.

"How did that happen?" Jane asked, although as usual, he knew the answer.

"When I was trying to fight off my daddy. I couldn't do it and my braid got messed up but then mommy got him off of me. He hurt her pretty bad though. I guess he killed her."

Lisbon could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn't as good at masking her emotions as Jane.

"Was it your mommy who did your braid?" Lisbon asked.

Amanda looked at her, surprised again that Lisbon had addressed her, and then she nodded. "And now I'm never gonna have another braid again. I can't do them by myself." She sounded so sad.

"I can fix it for you, if you'd like," Jane whispered.

Both Lisbon and Amanda looked at him in amazement. "You can braid hair?" Amanda asked disbelievingly, wrinkling her nose slightly. "My daddy could never braid my hair."

"Sure I can," Jane told her. Lisbon suddenly realized why. _He must have braided his daughter's hair_.

"Okay," Amanda said, as if she still didn't quite believe him.

Jane went over to the dresser, where he found Amanda's purple hairbrush. "Okay, first we have to take this one out," he said calmly. "Do you want another French braid?"

"Just like the braid that mommy did," Amanda told him.

Lisbon watched in silence as Jane expertly twisted the child's curly hair into a beautiful French braid, in a matter of minutes. She was so focused on his hands that she almost missed the single tear making its way down his cheek. Almost, but not quite.

"Can you teach me?" Amanda asked Jane, when he had finished.

Jane smiled and nodded, his mask firmly back in place. "How about if we braid Teresa's hair together?" He suggested, smirking at Lisbon.

Lisbon grinned. She knew that it was a good idea to help the girl trust her, but she couldn't help but find the idea of Jane braiding her hair very strange.

"Okay," Amanda agreed, smiling shyly.

Lisbon sat on the floor beside the bed, to allow Amanda and Jane easy access to her hair. She listened to Jane patiently guiding Amanda's fingers, and imagined him doing the same with his own daughter and wife.

It took Amanda nearly ten minutes to properly braid Lisbon's hair, but she was quite proud of her efforts. It made both Lisbon and Jane happy to see a real smile on the child's face, and Lisbon had to admit, the braid wasn't half bad.

* * *

Later that evening, Jane settled down on his couch at CBI. He didn't bother feigning sleep; he simply stared at the stain on the ceiling above. He recalled how when he used to lay down on the couch, his daughter would try to fix his hair, too. She couldn't braid it like she did Angela's, but it didn't stop her from filling it with barrettes.

"Hey," Lisbon's soft voice interrupted his memories.

"Hey yourself," Jane replied, noting that she hadn't yet changed her hairstyle. "Braid looks good on you."

Lisbon grinned. "Thanks for that. You were really good with her, today. You heard her bragging to her grandparents about it, right?"

"Yeah," Jane smiled fondly, recalling Amanda's excitement when her maternal grandparents had arrived to pick her up.

"You okay?" Lisbon asked gently. "I get the feeling you've done that before."

Was he okay? _Not really_. Jane sighed. "Yes. Charlotte loved her braids, too."

Lisbon waited a moment, but Jane didn't seem inclined to say anything more. She simply put her hand on his shoulder, and whispered, "Thank you, Patrick."

"Any time, Lisbon. Hey, if you want, I could teach you how to do a braid, too," he teased, carefully erasing all traces of sadness from his face.

Lisbon laughed. It was a lovely sound, Jane thought. _Like music_.

"Maybe someday," she responded. "Good night, Jane."

"Night, Lisbon," he murmured.

After she left he closed his eyes, removed his mask, and prepared himself for another lonely night.


End file.
